Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen had a goal and an assist each, Andre Burakovsky and Patrik Nemeth also scored, and the Colorado Avalanche beat the San Jose Sharks 4-3 in Denver on Saturday night.
Conor Timmons had two assists and Devan Dubnyk made 22 saves for the Avalanche (33-12-4, 70 points), who also beat the Sharks 3-0 on Friday night.
Tomas Hertl and Alexander Barabanov had a goal and an assist each, Logan Couture also scored and Josef Korenar stopped 40 shots for San Jose (20-26-5, 45 points).
Colorado played without defensemen Ryan Graves and Samuel Girard, both of whom were hurt in Friday's game. The Avalanche recalled Kyle Burroughs and Dan Renouf from the AHL to fill the roster spots, and they were the third defensive pairing.
The Sharks scored their first goal against the Avalanche in more than seven periods to take the lead. With Gabriel Landeskog off for goaltender interference, San Jose worked the puck down low to Hertl, and as he tried to put it on his forehand, the puck slid out to Barabanov in the left circle. Barabanov's shot from one knee beat Dubnyk high at 4:25 of the second period.
The Avalanche got even on a four-on-four later in the period. Timmons had the puck at the left circle and feathered a pass through Marc-Edouard Vlasic's legs to the far post, and MacKinnon tapped it in for his 20th goal at 13:08.
Burakovsky gave Colorado the lead after two periods. J.T. Compher won a faceoff back to Burakovsky, who skated toward the slot and beat Korenar high at 16:06. It was his 15th goal of the season.
Nemeth gave the Avalanche a 3-1 lead when he scored at 9:05 of the third period, but the Sharks came right back when Couture scored a short-handed goal off the rebound of an Evander Kane shot at 9:55.
Colorado restored the cushion when Rantanen tipped in a shot by Devon Toews at 15:34. It was his 28th of the season.
Korenar went off for an extra skater with more than three minutes left, and Hertl scored his 16th at 17:47 to get the Sharks back within a goal.
--Field Level Media
San Jose | Colorado | |
Alexander Barabanov 2 | Points | Nathan MacKinnon 2 |
Alexander Barabanov 1 | Goals | Nathan MacKinnon 1 |
Alexander Barabanov 1 | Assists | Conor Timmins 2 |
Alexander Barabanov 1 | Power Play Goals | N/A |
Logan Couture 1 | Short Handed Goals | N/A |
Josef Korenar .909 | Save Percentage | Devan Dubnyk .880 |
Josef Korenar 40 | Saves | Devan Dubnyk 22 |
Team | Shots | Goals | Power Play | Penalty Kill | Penalty Mins | Face Offs Won |
San Jose | 25 | 3 | 1-4 | 4-4 | 8 | 25 |
Colorado | 44 | 4 | 0-4 | 3-4 | 8 | 36 |